dugan laughed, showing his yellow teeth.

“oh, i’ve got ye!” he declared, triumphantly—“i’ve got ye foul this time!”

“it looks that way,” admitted frank, coolly. “now you have me, what are you going to do with me?”

“don’t git anxious; you’ll find out soon enough.”

frank was watching the man narrowly, hoping to catch him off his guard, and the smuggler seemed to realize this, for he said:

“don’t try any tricks. you can get your pistol out mighty quick, but i can pull a trigger before you can pull the pistol. i’ll drop you where you stand if you try it!”

frank started in to talk to the man, hoping to obtain an advantage that way, but again dugan seemed to read his thoughts.

“it won’t work, young feller. keep them hands up. i don’t want to shoot you here, but i’ll do it quicker than you can spit if you make one false move. steady, now.”

frank heard a step at his back, but he could not look round. he knew dugan was not alone, and, a moment later he was grasped by a pair of masculine hands.

dugan advanced, still holding his rifle ready for use.

frank’s hands were wrenched back behind him and held thus. then, while dugan held the muzzle of the rifle[141] within two feet of the head of the captured lad, merry’s wrists were securely tied by a stout cord.

“make the knots solid, huck,” directed the smuggler. “this chap is pretty slippery.”

“oh, i’ll fix him so he’ll not slip us,” was the assurance of the man behind frank.

the voice caused merriwell to start, for it sounded natural.

“it can’t be!” thought merry. “i am deceived!”

soon he was tied so that he could not move his hands, and then dugan lowered the rifle, laughing again in his evil, triumphant manner.

“you didn’t know the kind of man you was dealing with when you hit me,” he said. “as you are no more than a boy, i thought i’d let you off by taking your rifle, which i was bound to have anyhow; but, now that you have followed me here, i’ll put you where you’ll never worry your friends again.”

frank understood the meaning of the man, and he fully realized the peril of his position. that dugan meant to murder him he had no doubt, and now he was sorry that he had not made some kind of effort when he came face to face with the man, even though he had been shot down at once.

he turned to look at the man who had come up behind him, and he saw elder jones! but what a change in the appearance of the man! no longer was he the sleepy, long-faced, ministerial-appearing person frank had seen on the boat. his black clothes had been cast aside, and he[142] was roughly dressed, like dugan, his trousers being tucked into his boots.

this person gave frank a vicious look of hatred.

“so it is you!” exclaimed the captive. “well, i must say this is queer business for a minister of the gospel!”

“bah!” exclaimed jones. “you are a fool!”

“possibly you are right,” was merry’s calm admission. “i acknowledge i am beginning to feel rather foolish just now. it is somewhat disgusting to think i could be trapped so easily.”

“you thought you were cutting lots of ice with hilda dugan,” said jones, tauntingly; “but she was pumping you, and she found out the things we wanted to know. when she made an appointment for you to meet her on this island it was for the purpose of trapping you just as you were trapped.”

these words gave merry a shock, but he refused to believe them. he did not wish to think the beautiful girl could be so treacherous. besides that, it was a blow to his self-esteem to think that he had been deceived thus easily.

“i do not believe it!” he said, firmly. “she would not do such a thing!”

“that shows how much of a fool you are. do you think she would betray her own father to a stranger like you? you must be a chump! she never intended to meet you here.”

“still i refuse to believe it!”

“waugh! who cares!” growled dugan. “we’ve got ye, and we’ll fix ye so you’ll never worry anybody again.[143] we can’t stand here and chin all the afternoon with ye. face around. so. now march.”

back along the path frank marched, with his hands tied behind his back, his ruffianly captors following him. now he knew elder jones was no true minister, but was an impostor. without doubt jones was a smuggler, like dugan.

back to the float they went, and the men made frank get into the boat. they entered also, put up the sail, cast off and headed toward the great forest that stretched along the shore.

frank looked at the vast woods and wondered whither they were taking him. now for him those woods, so beautiful a short time ago, were full of terrors. in their dark depths all traces of a crime might be hidden away forever. if they carried him into the forest, would he ever come forth alive?

more and more he regretted that he had not made some kind of a stroke for his life, when he came face to face with dugan, for now he was powerless to do anything.

frank had some friends, good and true, but they were far away, and could not come to his aid. how he longed for the assistance of the powerful arm of bruce browning!

would they ever know what had happened to him?

the boat ran into a small cove after crossing from the island, and soon the three were on shore. again frank was compelled to march before them, and soon they came to a path that led from the cove into the forest.

the great trees loomed above their heads. it was[144] gloomy there beneath them, though the sun was shining so brightly.

after proceeding about half a mile, they came to an old wood road, and along this they marched till they reached a camp hut in the bosom of the great forest.

“we’ll stop here,” said dugan.

they compelled frank to march into the hut, opening the door for him to enter. the glass in the one small window was broken, and the place was none too light with the door standing wide ajar.

there were some barrels and boxes there, and frank immediately decided that the hut had been used more than once to store goods smuggled over the border.

“we ain’t got no further use for this place,” said dugan. “the officers have been watching it off and on for some time, so we ain’t been able to keep anything here. which of the barrels has the powder in it, huck?”

“this one,” said jones, indicating one with a large bung hole in one end.

“all right. we’ll tie him to that.”

but the time had come when merry was resolved to make a desperate struggle for life. he suddenly ducked his head and leaped forward, butting jones in the stomach and bowling him over. but a most unfortunate thing happened to him as he tried to leap over the fallen man and dodge out by the door.

he tripped and was thrown headlong upon his face. he was stunned, and, before he could rise, dugan was on him, pinning him to the ground.

[145]

“no ye don’t, you critter!” grated the man. “you can’t get away like that! quick, huck—give a hand!”

gasping for breath, the other man assisted, and, in a very few minutes, merriwell was bound with his back against the powder barrel. his last hope of escape seemed gone.

“there,” said dugan, looking at him with a leer of satisfaction, “now you are all right. there is enough powder in the barrel to blow you to kingdom come and destroy the hut. you’ll be blotted out of existence in a wink, and your friends may search for ye as much as they like. they’ll never find a trace to tell what became of ye.”

cold drops of perspiration started out on frank’s brow, but he tried to remain calm in the face of the terrible danger.

“all right,” he said, his voice held steady by a great effort. “go ahead with your evil work. but your time will come! just as sure as the sun shines, there will be an hour of retribution.”

“sounds like some of your preaching, huck,” said dugan. “can’t you offer up a prayer for his soul before we touch him off?”

“i won’t waste my breath!” snapped the other man. “go ahead with the funeral!”

dugan produced a fuse from his pocket. it seemed that he had brought it along with a view of using it there. one end of the fuse he thrust down through the bunghole into the barrel of powder. then he took out a match and deliberately scratched it on the leg of his trousers.

[146]

the match flared up, and then the man touched it to the end of the fuse!

hiss—splutter—flare!

the fuse was burning!

instantly both men turned toward the door, jones hurrying out in advance. as he reached the door, dugan turned to say:

“in one minute the fuse’ll reach ter their powder! good-by!”

then he went out, and frank merriwell was left in a situation of frightful peril.